Cooler for oil in journal reservoirs



April 3, 1945. s. HOLM ET A1. Z3.72;896

COOLER FOR OIL IN JOURNAL RESERVOIRS Filed. Oct. 3, 1942 INVENTORS Sven Helm BY f /If! laud M HTTOR/VEY Patented Apr. 3, 1945 COOLER FOR OIL IN JOURNAL RESERVOIRS Sven Holm and John Vickland, Wellsville, N. Y., assignors to The Air Preheater Corporation,

New York, N. Y.

Application October 3, 1942, Serial No. 460,598

2 Claims.

The present invention relate to bearings for rotary shafts and particularly to means for cooling the lubricating oil in the reservoir of the bearing.

In carrying out the present invention the end of the rotary shaft is provided with a hollow agitator member dipping into the oil pool during rotation of the shaft and having a cooling fluid continuously circulated therethrough to withdraw heat from the oil. The invention contemplates improving the cooling effect not only stirring up the body of oil but by enlarging the area in which the oil contacts a, surface cooled by the circulation of the refrigerating fluid. The invention will be best understood upon consideration of the fol lowing detailed description of an illustrative embodiment thereof when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal ectional view through a shaft bearing embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 in i 1; and

Figure 3 is a sectional view of a modified cooling member. I

Referring first to Figure l, the numeral Ill designates the end portion of a shaft which rotates at a slow rate of speed in a roller bearing l2 mounted in the housing I 4. The bearing is partially immersed in a pool of oil I6 contained in the lower portion of the housing l'l. Attached to. the end of the shaft I for rotation therewith is a hollow agitator 20 of generally cylindrical form to which water or other cooling fluid is continuously supplied froma pipe 2| through an inlet tube 22 and from which the water is withdrawn through a passage 23 in the hub 24 to be discharged through a pipe 25. A rotary pressure joint that forms no part of the present invention is utilized at 2B. As appears in Fig. 2, the cooling agitator 20 is provided with a number of radially extending hollow lobes 30 which are maintained full of cooling liquid. These radially extending lobes not only increase the amount of surface of the agitator that is contacted by the cooling fluid but also increase the amount of cooling surface over which the oil may flow to I cool it by contact. To further increase the cooling action and assure circulation within the pool of oil despite the slow speed of shaft ID, the outer ends of the lobes 30 are provided with suitable members 3| extending transversely of the lobes at their tips and projecting from their leading edges, i. e. in the direction of rotation of the agitator 20. The members 3| co-a-ct with th lobes in such manner as to form a bucket or scoop that will on the lobes 30 thus may pick up small quantities of oil which, when the related lobe passes the hi h point in the circle of rotation, flows downwardly over the surface 32 forming the leading face of the lobe as well as along the surface portion 33 of the agitator 20 that lies between two lobes. Thus, small quantities of oil spread in a relatively thin film and flow over an amount of cool surface that is considerably greater than with a simple cylindrical or disc agitator. This is because the radial lobes 30 not only increase the amount of cooling surface but the scoops 3| carry oil in contact with a cooled surface to an elevated position from which it is caused to flow as a thin film over a continuously cooled surface of relatively large area before again falling back into the pool l6. It should be observed that with the construction provided the pool i 6 of oil is not cooled merely by passing a cooling member through it but that the cooling effect is augmentedvby continuously removing small quantities of oil from the pool and while carrying them causing them to flow over surfaces that are cooled still further during the time the oil is separated from the bath.

In the form illustrated in Figure3 the opera tion is the same as described above but the cooling effect is further increased by providing several sets of transversely spaced lobes 40, 4| and 42, the lobes of each set projecting at various radial locations from a generally cylindrical body 20 of the cooling member. At circumferentially spaced intervals about the cooling member 20 dams 43 are provided between the lobe 40 and the lobe M and between the latter and the lobe 42 so that oil may be carried from the pool in the space between the lobes. With this form it will be seen that by providing several sets of lobes additional surfaces at 44 constituting the lateral faces of the respective lobes function as cooling surfaces as well as the faces of the lobes that are perpendicular to the axis of rotation.

What we claim is:

1. In combination with a shaft, a bearing and a housing therefor containing in the lower part thereof a pool of oil for lubricating the bearing; a hollow agitator member comprising a generally cylindrical body portion provided with a pluly cylindrical body portion provided with a plu-,

rality of radially extending lobes adapted to dip into the oil pool during rotation of said shaft;

means for supporting said agitator on the end of said shaft so that only a portion thereof is submerged in said oil pool; scoop elements on the tips of said lobes extending forwardly from the leading edge thereof for carrying quantities of oil from said pool to an elevated position from which they may flow over the extended surfaces provided by said lobes and the surface of said agitator between said lobes; and means for circu- 10 lating a cooling fluid through said agitator,

SVEN HOLD/I. JOHN VICKLAND. 

